Select Objects
Click an object to select it.
Click away from the objects to deselect.
When you make a window selection, objects completely enclosed in the selection rectangle are selected.
Drag a selection rectangle from left to right to use a window selection.
Objects by a crossing rectangle
When you make a crossing selection, all objects inside or partially inside the selection rectangle are selected.
Drag a selection rectangle from right to left to do a crossing selection.
To make the mouse always use either a window or crossing selection, see Options, Mouse group select
.
Press and hold Shift
while clicking single objects or using a window or crossing.
Press and hold the Ctrl
key while clicking single objects or using a window or crossing.
Selection menu
If several objects appear to be stacked in the area of the cursor and Rhino is not able to tell which one you want to select, the Selection Menu appears.
When the selection menu pops up, the current object and its designation in the list highlight.
To select an object
-
Click the left mouse button
at the original pick point to cycle through the list.
-
Click the right mouse button
to accept the current choice.
Or
-
Click the object name in the list.
-
When object is highlighted, and the mouse is still over the selection menu, click the left mouse button
.
To cancel the selection process
-
Click None.
-
Click away from the objects.
-
Click another object.
Select commands
Dedicated selection commands let you select by object properties.
Select objects.
Select all objects.
Standard > Select All
Select > Select All
Edit > Select Objects > All Objects
Keyboard Shortcut: Ctrl
+ A
Select all objects that do not pass Check
.
Note: Delete or rebuild the object.
Analyze > Select Bad Objects
Geometry Fix > Select Bad Objects (Right click)
Geometry Fix > Select Bad Objects
Diagnostics > Select Bad Objects
Analyze > Diagnostics > Select Bad Objects
Select all curves less than a specified length.
Sel Curves > Select Short Curves
None
Selects curve or surface edges that touch end-to-end.
Select > SelChain
None
Options
AutoChain
Selecting a curve or surface edge automatically selects all curve segments connected with the level of continuity
set by the ChainContinuity option.
ChainContinuity
Controls the level of continuity
required between segments to be selected with the AutoChain option.
Undo
Undo last segment selection.
Next
Select next segment.
All
Select all segments.
Deselect all objects. Note: SelNone does not run inside a command to clear pre-selected objects.
Select > Select None
Edit > Select Objects > None
Keyboard Shortcut: Esc
Deselects all selected objects and selects all visible objects that were not previously selected.
Select > Invert Selection
Edit > Select Objects > Invert
Deselects all selected control or edit points and selects all visible control or edit points that were not previously selected.
Select Points > Invert Point Selection
Edit > Control Points > Select Control Points > Invert
Adds the control point in the positive u-direction to the selection.
Select Points > Add Next U
Edit > Control Points > Select Control Points > Add Next U
Adds the control point in the positive v-direction to the selection.
Select Points > Add Next V
Edit > Control Points > Select Control Points > Add Next V
Adds the control point in the negative u-direction to the selection.
Select Points > Add Previous U (Right click)
Edit > Control Points > Select Control Points > Add Previous U
Adds the control point in the negative v-direction to the selection.
Select Points > Add Previous V (Right click)
Edit > Control Points > Select Control Points > Add Previous V
Selects the control point in the positive u-direction.
Select Points > Next U
Edit > Control Points > Select Control Points > Next U
Selects the control point in the positive v-direction.
Select Points > Next V
Edit > Control Points > Select Control Points > Next V
Selects the control point in the negative u-direction.
Select Points > Previous U (Right click)
Edit > Control Points > Select Control Points > Previous U
Selects the control point in the negative v-direction.
Select Points > Previous V (Right click)
Edit > Control Points > Select Control Points > Previous V
Selects adjacent control points.
Select Points > Select Connected Points
Edit > Control Points > Select Control Points > Connected
Selects all control points in the u-direction.
Select Points > Select U
Edit > Control Points > Select Control Points > Select U
Selects all control po
ints in the u- and v- directions.
Select Points > Select UV
Edit > Control Points > Select Control Points > Select UV
Select all control points in the v-direction.
Select Points > Select V
Edit > Control Points > Select Control Points > Select V
Select all block instances.
Select > Select All Block Instances
Edit > Select Objects > Block Instances
Select all block instances of a specified name.
Select > Select Blocks by name (Right click)
Edit > Select Objects > By Block Name
Select all closed curves.
Sel Curves > Select Closed Curves
None
Select all closed mesh objects.
Sel Meshes > Select Closed Meshes
None
Select all closed polysurfaces.
Sel Polysrf > Select Closed Polysurfaces
None
Select all closed surfaces.
Sel Srf > Select Closed Surfaces
None
Select all open curves.
Sel Curves > Select Open Curves
None
Select all open mesh objects.
Sel Meshes > Select Open Meshes
None
Select all open polysurfaces.
Edge Tools > Select Open Polysurfaces
Sel Polysrf > Select Open Polysurfaces
None
Select all open surfaces.
Sel Srf > Select Open Surfaces
None
Select all objects of a specified color.
Select > Select by Color
Edit > Select Objects > By Color
Select objects by object ID number.
Select > Select by ID
None
Select objects with the same render material name.
None
None
Select object by name.
Select > Select by Object Name
Edit > Select Objects > By Object Name
Note
-
Use wild cards (*, ?, etc.) to select multiple objects.
-
Press Enter
to select all objects with no name.
-
Objects on hidden or locked layers cannot be selected.
Select by surrounding objects with a 3-dimensional box. Draw the selection box using the same options as the Box
command.
None
None
Select with a crossing window
.
None
None
Select with an enclosing window
.
None
None
Selects point objects, control points, and edit points by sketching an irregular shape around them.
Select > Lasso Points
Select Points > Lasso Points
Organic > Lasso Points
Edit > Control Points > Select Control Points > Lasso
Steps:
-
Use the PointsOn
command to show control points. -
Start the Lasso command.
-
Click and drag, or repeatedly click to select points.
-
Press Enter
to close the lasso.
Select all surfaces or meshes that are in front of other objects in the active viewport with a crossing selection.
None
None
Steps:
-
Drag a crossing selection or press Enter
to use the whole viewport.
-
In the illustration, using SelVisible in the Top viewport selects the green spheres and the plane.
Select all curves.
Select > Select Curves
Sel Curves > Select Curves
Edit > Select Objects > Curves
Select all dimensions.
Select > Select Dimensions and Text Blocks
Edit > Select Objects > Dimensions
Select all annotation dots.
Select > Select Dots
None
Select all leaders.
None
None
Select all lights.
Select > Select Lights
Edit > Select Objects > Lights
Select all mesh objects.
Select > Select Meshes
Sel Meshes > Select Meshes
Edit > Select Objects > Polygon Meshes
Select all point objects.
Select > Select Points
Edit > Select Objects > Points
Select all point cloud objects.
Select > Select Point Clouds
None
Select all polylines. Note: Single-segment “lines” and any curve or compound curve where the components are linear are selected.
Sel Curves > Select Polylines
Edit > Select Objects > Polylines
Select all polysurfaces.
Select > Select Polysurfaces
Sel Polysrf > Select Polysurfaces
Edit > Select Objects > Polysurfaces
Select all surfaces.
Select > Select Surfaces
Sel Srf > Select Surfaces
Edit > Select Objects > Surfaces
Select all text.
Select > Select Text Blocks (Right click)
None
Select all trimmed surfaces.
Sel Srf > Select Trimmed Surfaces
None
Select all untrimmed surfaces.
Sel Srf > Select Untrimmed Surfaces
None
Selects objects that are geometrically identical with another object and visible, regardless of other object properties.
Select > Select Duplicate Objects
Edit > Select Objects > Duplicate Objects
Selects all visible objects that are geometrically identical, including the original.
Since this command selects both the copies and the originals, it lets you find objects that have been changed by comparing a before and after version of the model.
Compare to the SelDup
command, which selects all visible objects that are geometrically identical, excluding the original.
Select > Select All Duplicate Objects (Right click)
None
Select a group by name
Select > Select by Group Name
Edit > Select Objects > By Group Name
Select all objects on a layer. Use the Pick button in the dialog box to select an object on the layer.
Select > Select by Layer
Edit > Select Objects > By Layer
Select objects by layer number. The number of the first layer is zero. Each layer has a number that is assigned to it for a Rhino editing session. The numbers may change when the model is closed and then reopened. This number has nothing to do with the order the layers appear in the layer dialog box. Deleted layers keep their number.
Select > Select layer by number (Right click)
None
Select unwelded vertices on polygon mesh edges.
Note
-
Polygon mesh vertices are not completely surrounded by faces are displayed.
-
Joined meshes, such as those made by the MeshBox
command, have naked mesh edge points where the sub-meshes are joined. -
To eliminate naked mesh edge points, match them in pairs, and then use the Weld command to make a single mesh that cannot be exploded. Edges that formerly rendered sharp will shade rounded, unless you use the FlatShade
command.
STL Tools > Show and Select Naked Mesh Edge Points
None
Selects captive objects set up using the CageEdit
command.
Cage > Select captives
None
Selects control objects set up using the CageEdit
command.
Cage > Select controls
None
Selects child objects of the currently selected objects.
History > Select children
Select History > Select children
None
Selects objects that have history.
Select > Select objects with history
History > Select objects with history
Select History > Select objects with history
None
Selects parent objects of the currently selected objects.
History > Select parents
Select History > Select parents
None
Selects the last changed objects.
Select > Select Last Created Objects
Edit > Select Objects > Last Created Objects
The hyphenated version adds command line options.
DeselectOthersBeforeSelect=<Yes/No>
Re-selects the previous selection set.
Select > Select Previous Selection
Edit > Select Objects > Previous Selection
The hyphenated version adds command line options.
DeselectOthersBeforeSelect=<Yes/No>
Select sub-parts of objects
For many commands, you can select sub parts of objects, such as surfaces that make up polysurfaces, edge curves of surface, or control points. You can also restrict selection to object types such as meshes, dimensions, surfaces or curves to allow you to restrict selection in a tight area.
These selection filters only work for commands that ask you to pick objects after the command starts such as ClosestPt
, ExtrudeCrv…
, Sweep1
, Sweep2
. These commands let you use filters to pick a sub-part of an object rather than the whole object.
To select a sub-part of an object as input to a command
To select |
type |
curves |
curve or crv |
dimensions |
dimension or dim |
edges |
edge |
meshes |
mesh |
points |
point or pt |
polysurfaces |
polysurface or polysrf |
surfaces |
surface or srf |
Ctrl + Shift + Left mouse click select
Ctrl
+ Shift
+ Left mouse
click to select polysurface/surface faces, edges, boundaries, and objects within groups.